Professional Development for Part-time College Faculty to Enhance Student Success in STEM

该项目旨在通过发展和评估兼职STEM教师的综合专业发展来服务于高质量的本科STEM教育的国家利益。在许多机构，兼职教员讲授STEM入门课程。因此，这些教师在为学生在STEM取得成功创造公平的机会方面发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，院校对兼职教师的依赖与较低的第一年持久率和较低的毕业率有关。很少有研究调查兼职教师在课堂上做些什么，以及他们的行为与学生学习的关系。STEM教育改革的努力往往不包括兼职教师，尽管研究记录了兼职教师希望被纳入机构努力的愿望，他们对合作的兴趣，以及他们对校园资源和政策更多认识的需求。这项1级参与式学生学习计划旨在提高兼职教师的效率，提高学生在参与教师教授的第一年STEM课程中的成就感和坚持性。该项目将为埃尔姆赫斯特大学的兼职STEM教师开发一个全面的教师发展计划。在该项目为期三年的时间里，45名兼职STEM教员将参与密集的教员发展。发展方案将把教学方法培训与关于校园资源的培训结合起来，包括体制支助机制以及保留和包容举措。这种综合的方法可能会为其他越来越依赖兼职教员的小型文科院校提供借鉴。通过这项持续多年的专业发展努力，预计兼职教师将发展更多以学生为中心的教学理念，增加他们对循证和包容性教学实践的使用，并表现出对学校更多的归属感。该项目将通过建立STEM系主任研讨会，扩大对兼职STEM教师的机构支持，重点是将兼职教师纳入围绕教学和学习的部门对话，并通过参加有效教学的在线课程来支持持续的专业发展。教学方面的改进，加上更强的将学生与校园资源联系起来的能力，预计将提高学生在一年级STEM课程中的成功。与该项目相关的拟议研究研究将调查兼职教师在他们的教学理念、循证实践的使用以及对机构的归属感方面的态度和行为的具体变化。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest in high quality undergraduate STEM education by developing and evaluating comprehensive professional development for part-time STEM faculty. At many institutions, part-time faculty teach introductory STEM courses. As a result, these faculty have an essential role in creating equitable opportunities for student success in STEM. However, institutional reliance on part-time faculty has been associated with lower first-year persistence and lower graduation rates. Few research studies have examined what part-time faculty do in the classroom and how their actions relate to student learning. STEM education reform efforts often do not include part-time faculty, even though studies document the desire of part-time faculty to be included in institutional efforts, their interest in collaboration, and their need for greater awareness of campus resources and policies. This Level 1 Engaged Student Learning project intends to enhance the effectiveness of part-time faculty, leading to increased student success and persistence of students in first-year STEM courses taught by the participating faculty. The project will develop a comprehensive faculty development program for part-time STEM faculty at Elmhurst University. Over the three-year duration of the project, 45 part-time STEM faculty members will participate in intensive faculty development. The development programming will combine training in teaching methods with training about campus resources, including institutional support mechanisms as well as retention and inclusion initiatives. This comprehensive approach may serve as a model for other small, liberal arts institutions, that increasingly rely on part-time faculty. Through this sustained multi-year professional development effort, it is expected that part-time faculty will develop more student-centered conceptions of teaching, increase their use of evidence-based and inclusive teaching practices, and exhibit an increased sense of belonging with the institution. The project will expand institutional support for part-time STEM faculty by establishing a STEM department chair workshop focused on integrating part-time faculty into departmental conversations around teaching and learning, as well as supporting sustained professional development through participation in an online course in effective teaching. The improvements in instruction, combined with a greater ability to connect students with campus resources, are expected to enhance student success in first-year STEM courses. The proposed research study associated with the project will investigate specific changes in the part-time faculty members’ attitudes and behaviors related to their conceptions of teaching, use of evidence-based practices, and sense of belonging to the institution. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.